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Who pays what rent isn't relevant, your students are not a single household, you are not an educational establishment, so assuming there are more than two students it is a HMO as defined in the Housing Act 2004.

NOTE: Steven Palmer BSc (Hons) MRICS MBEng is an official LandlordZONE Topic Expert and a Director of Davisons Palmer Lim Any advice given by Steven in this Forum is of a general nature only and should not be acted upon without first obtaining advice specific to your problem/situation from a professional.

Comment

The wording and definitions of the Housing Act 2004 are relevant to that Act only (it says so within the Act itself).

This means it does not cover any Acts pertaining to Council Tax.

This means it is perfectly possible to have one definition of HMO for the Housing Act and another one for Council Tax.

If your tenants are on one AST and living together as a single household then for the purposes of the council tax only, then the answers to the question is yes and yes (assuming they pay council tax and that the rent is the rent whether there is one or four students).

HMO's for council tax purposes is where each tenant has his/her own agreement with you and are not jointly and severally liable for the whole of the rent. You would be paying the council tax in this case anyway.

Comment

Attila and Steve both have a point.
Whatever you put on the form - after October (not set in stone yet) the house will be an HMO if there are more than 3 students.
So you have already set yourself up to be an HMO landlord.
You should contact your local council for advice on the requirements for HMO's as there may be a rush on to get houses up to standard.
Alternatively let to a family.

Whilst I hope you find the contents of this posting interesting and informative, the contents are without prejudice or liability and are for general information purposes only

Comment

Actually, it will be an HMO if two or more unrelated people living together.

I got quite worried and posted here about this a while ago when letting a two-bedder, because it seemed that as a landlord I would be compelled to determine the sleeping arrangements and even sexual orientation of any couples (m-m, m-f, or f-f) applying for a tenancy - ie, if they were just "friends" with a bedroom each, then would I be in HMO-land, rather than a straightforward normal tenancy if they were "partners".

I was advised that I would be OK with a normal tenancy, regardless. Please someone tell me the new rules aren't changing this...?!!

Comment

attilathelandlord,
I wasn't commenting on council tax, merely pointing out that it is a HMO (or will be shortly) and in deciding that the tenancy agreements are not relevant.

I did not comment on whether it wouild be subject to mandatory licensing, some HMO's will be, which ones remain to be seen. Even if it is not subject to licensing, mandatory or otherwise, it remains a HMO.

So, as has already been stated he has already set himself up as a HMO landlord and he should really talk to his local authority.

NOTE: Steven Palmer BSc (Hons) MRICS MBEng is an official LandlordZONE Topic Expert and a Director of Davisons Palmer Lim Any advice given by Steven in this Forum is of a general nature only and should not be acted upon without first obtaining advice specific to your problem/situation from a professional.

This is a bit of an unusual situation and I'm not sure what to do... long story short, my tenant stopped paying their rent in June and has given me several reasons why they couldn't pay. I tried my best to be accommodating, as I thought it's best to do that and try to come to an amicable arrangement...

I've heard that one before.
It's always mistaken.
Any tenant would take care the property they rent, in fact they have to (the property has to be returned in the condition it was given less fair wear and tear otherwise the landlord can claim compensation - regardless of who the tenant is)....

In English law, the principle is, essentially, that the law is what it says, not what was meant.
When you read appeals cases, the amount of time spent looking at definitions and trying to match the precise wording to the precise situation is testament to this.

I just wondered what length of time it took landlords to evict tenants once they served the Section 21? Can it really take many months still? I'm watching a landlord/tenant program on TV now and it's taken one LL more than 6 months!